#426 What the Ax Forgets the Tree Remembers- Edith Pearlman

#426 What the Ax Forgets the Tree Remembers- Edith Pearlman

The title of this one alone blows me away. Too often we hear the opinions of those giving offense or those doing damage explaining how that offense or damage isn’t that bad.

“For a half century Gabrielle had avoided good causes as if they might defile her. Efficiency and orderliness were what she cared about, and her own lively good looks.”

Now inspired to do good things, she is taken to work for The Society Against Female Mutilation. However, like many people who suddenly “wake up” and want to help the world, they still cling to their vanity and the viewpoints of their privileged experience. Just because you are not the AX, doesn’t mean you can understand what a tree goes through.

When Gabrielle’s normal speaker gets ill, she employs a stand in for a fundraising event. The stand in gives strong opinions that seem to be against their work. But truth is truth and hearing it may change the way you think, if you are open to it of course.

There is a nice thread through this piece about intimacy and acceptance. I’m not sure I agree with how the group dealt with the two divergent testimonies. With such a short story, I’m not sure there was enough space to give adequate discussing.

Rating: 8-7-7-7 Total= 29

#399 Assisted Living- Edith Pearlman

#399 Assisted Living- Edith Pearlman

This has some of the same settings and characters from the last Pearlman story we saw, Puck. We are in the Forget-Me-Not antique shop with it’s proprietor, Rennie. This time we learn about some of her regular costumers, in particular an old couple, Muffy and Stu.

“Muffy and Stu Willis slid into the store at least twice a week. Like many long-married people they looked like siblings.”

They have spent their older years purchasing the nice things they see, they have amassed quite a collection. When Muffy falls and injures herself, they begin to auction off their belongings to pay for her treatment. Life is slowly coming to a close.

Pearlman’s style didn’t immediately grab me, although I am warming to it. At times her writing is just a little too delicate for my taste, as it is here. Of course, it is beautiful and hits the mark it aims for…which is a mark a little far off from where I generally like it.

Rating: 8-7-7-7 Total= 29

#335 Her Cousin Jamie- Edith Pearlman

#335 Her Cousin Jamie- Edith Pearlman

Fern and Barbara are teachers who meet once a year for drinks at the annual teachers conference. Usually Fern doesn’t tell stories but this year she shares one about her cousin, Jamie…”Fern’s Cousin of Perpetual Penitence.”

Fern once had an affair with a man, a prominent educator and speaker. He had a weak heart, and he dies while they were in bed together. Gasp! That’s all there is. I seem to be missing something with this one. I don’t see any other layers here, or hidden symbolism or meaning. It’s juts a bit of gossip, wrapped in a short story. Not that a short story needs meaning or depth. But then it should be more than just a bit of gossip.

Rating: 7-4-5-5 Total= 21

#272 Dream Children- Edith Pearlman

#272 Dream Children- Edith Pearlman

Willa is a live-in nanny for a family on Manhattan’s upper west side. They are a nice family, thoughtful and careing and probably a little over-protective. She notices how controlled their environment is:

“In her country there was a TV in every village bar, and in the island’s capital city even the poorest family owned a set. But in this New York apartment—none.”

She quietly and gracefully takes care of the children, quietly watching her privileged employers and their friends. She gives them comfort and piece of mind, and even though they don’t recognize their lucky place in the world, she is understanding on a very human level. Their neighbor is losing her apartment and with it the office where her dentist practice is. Instead of taking the opportunity to move to a diferent neighborhood and take a position with another dentist office, she is intent on wallowing in self-pity. Willa sees her in a sympathetic light:

“Back home this woman would have been respected. She would not have been forced to work. People would have brought her stew and beer and smokes, and she would have sat on her porch and looked at the sea.”

Two stories in, and although I see grace and shape in her writing, I have yet to feel a personal connection with the subjects or characters in her stories. That happens.

Rating: 8-7-7-6 Total= 28

#152 Toyfolk- Edith Pearlman

#152 Toyfolk- Edith Pearlman

There is a lot of subtlety in this story, a lot of lines to read between. Fergus, a foreign Toymaker visits the town of his new sight and befriends an old couple. This couple, also toy enthusiasts, and toy workers lost a child to a kidnapping, Their lives are not whole. Their collection of dolls has a missing space and their attempt to fix broken toys still leaves them childless. There is a theme about holes, or missing spaces in this story.

Fergus and his wife, who have adult children are cold with each other, cordial but unconnected, like they have hole hat needs filling. Perhaps the missing child is what keeps the old couple close. Fergus and his wife no longer have purpose.  The vendor also has a child, but he created his own hole. He cut off the finger of his son.

They talk about dangerous toys, the slingshot being the most dangerous toy ever created. David used his slingshot to make a hole in Goliath. The things we make cant replace the things that are most important, they can only make holes that need filling.

Rating: 7-6-8-6 Total= 27